Fools and Sages

When you think about it, forgiveness is pretty weird, and these Fools have some questions: What does it really mean to forgive? What happens inside of us when we forgive? Can we show someone kindness without forgiving them? Does forgiving make us better? Must the other person have a role, i.e., repentance? What is the relationship between forgiveness and justice? These fools discuss. Hope you enjo...

How much is it our choice to belong, versus the situation being right? An interesting topic, especially for two Fools who, growing up, didn’t feel they belonged. A discussion of fate, destiny, karma, and the story of Oedipus Rex follow as we explore aspects of belonging, autonomy, the relationship between religion and mysticism, and other aspects and implications of being in the very human predica...

Dr. Michael Wolfe, tutor at St. John’s College and leader of the Middle Eastern studies program there, joins these Fools for a great discussion. Since discovering him in graduate school, Dr. Wolfe was and remains captivated by the great 12th-century Sufi mystic Ibn-al-Arabi, and we go pretty deep into his views on the nature of God, consciousness, and reality (is it a dream? Could synchronicity ex...

Professor Steven Nadler of the University of Wisconsin joins these Fools to talk about the life and work of Baruch Spinoza, who was expelled from Judaism in the 1600s for his radical views on God and Nature. We discuss Spinoza’s view on living a successful life, the ideas of Freedom and Passion, whether Free Will can exist, and also other areas in Nadler’s realm of expertise such as medieval Jewis...

Erik Erikson, renowned psychoanalyst and student of Sigmund Freud, says we have these innate drives around which ego and consciousness are formed. This brings up a discussion of the ego and its relationship to free will, that elusive philosophical question. Also arising is the Herculean task we are all given - to bind the internal and external world in our attempt to make sense. Enjoy the journey!...

In the Fools and Sages One Year Anniversary Episode, these fools discuss various aspects of the nature of “madness” and the role it plays in society, and in human creativity and evolution. Threads of the conversation include “transgenerational trauma,” comparing the cognitive models offered by shamanism and western psychology, and the relationship between madness and the idea of a collective mind....

Glenna Gerard has been involved in education, business, and consulting for over 30 years, much of that as a practitioner, facilitator, and teacher of “Bohm Dialogue,” a method for creating shared understanding, and even shared meaning, developed by the Nobel Prize-winning quantum physicist, David Bohm. Glenna joins these Fools for a far-ranging conversation that touches on many topics, including h...

It seems we see the world through a somewhat warped perspective. Where everything is interconnected, we see individual elements. As a result, human beings can uniquely manipulate the physical world, which helps us evolutionarily. But, just like quantum physics applies different rules than Newtonian mechanics, we need a different way of seeing reality if we want to apprehend its wholeness, rather t...

The sentencing of Brian Kohberger in the infamous University of Idaho murders triggers a discussion of justice. What is justice, even? How have our concepts of it evolved? How can justice be achieved? What is the relationship between justice and morality, and does serving justice require the commitment of immoral acts? What is the relationship between justice and “social justice?” How are justice...

Does consciousness arise from matter, or does matter arise from consciousness? Or, wait: what about both??? These Fools discuss the often-revisited philosophical idea of “The Great Chain of Being” along with the French philosopher Henri Bergson’s idea of “creative evolution,” and explore the implications of whether consciousness is an epi-phenomenon (a byproduct, as of brain activity,) or central...

These Fools examine humanity’s relationship to Truth - our desire for objective truth despite its subjective nature, and our love and reverence for it, and how philosophy attempts to make sense of the mysterious and unknowable. Patreon: patreon.com/FoolsandSagesPodcast X: https://x.com/sagetimepodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foolsandsagespodcast/ See the Fools and Sages show notes: ht...

Brian reads the short poem, The Second Coming, by WB Yeats, written after WWI, and these Fools discuss its imagery, historical context, and philosophical implications. Patreon: patreon.com/FoolsandSagesPodcast X: https://x.com/sagetimepodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foolsandsagespodcast/ See the Fools and Sages show notes: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1GVCVW1h2_-4JOU22KREzTO...

These Fools examine anger through psychological and philosophical frameworks. Is it a “secondary emotion?” A signal of other internal material? What does it mean to not be a victim of our own anger, and how do we go about living in healthy relationship with our anger?  Patreon: ⁠patreon.com/FoolsandSagesPodcast⁠ X: ⁠https://x.com/sagetimepodcast⁠ Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/foolsandsages...

These Fools go into Brian’s history and discuss key teachers he had in his formative chapters learning fighting and later, internal martial arts. Brian shares stories from his early days learning from Peter Lee, and offers some glimpses into martial arts theory not often available to the layperson. patreon.com/FoolsandSagesPodcast https://x.com/sagetimepodcast https://www.instagram.com/foolsandsag...

These Fools are thrilled to welcome special guest Krishnan Venkatesh, a philosophy professor at St. John’s College in Santa Fe, NM and formative member of St. John’s Eastern Classics Graduate Program. A rich discussion starts out with whether there are core differences between Eastern and Western philosophy, and touches on many topics, including the influence of Eastern thought on American thinker...

These Fools chat about the significance of hats, from their roles protecting us from weather in various climates to the role of the head itself as the seat of consciousness. This leads to a discussion of meditation, the relative merits of standing and sitting for it, and insights about the mind-body connection, drawing on Brian’s deep experience in martial arts.  foolsandsagespodcast.com patreon.c...

This week these Fools discuss the advent of cryptocurrency. What does it represent in the evolution of Marshall MacLuhan’s “extensions of man?” How do ideas like local currency relate to crypto? How do currencies and economics relate to nature itself? How is crypto relevant to the rest of a new chapter unfolding? Patreon: patreon.com/FoolsandSagesPodcast X: https://x.com/sagetimepodcast Instagram:...

These Fools explore the idea of the “Self” and how various thinkers have conceptualized it. Does the Self only exist in a religious context? Who are we in a secular world? The need to know the Self and understand its relationship to subjects such as consciousness and time, may be the most important catalyst of philosophy itself. Join these Fools for the journey! patreon.com/FoolsandSagesPodcast ht...

These Fools explore the link between individual psychological tendencies and mass consciousness. Are ideologies the outcome of individual dysfunctions projected into the group? Modernism and post-modernism get a look through the lens of materialism and spirit, as these Fools consider how societies create the environment for individual freedom and healthy collaboration. Enjoy!

These Fools talk about Brian’s apricot trees, and his musings on the deep meaning of the term “fruitfulness” - its origins in language and usage, its implications for our interrelationship with nature and stewardship, and its insights into the nobility of common struggle, the tension between surrender and control, and meaning itself. Dedicated to Frank Andrews: may he rest in peace.

These Fools contemplate a case from Boaz’s coaching practice, in which play is proposed as an antidote to the voice of excessive self-criticism (perfectionism.) They discuss the ideas of play and its role in human development as well as the psychology of self-criticism, and explore how these topics interrelate (and how they don’t.) What constitutes play for an adult? What is meant by “integrating”...

These Fools welcome guest Geoffrey Moore, world-renowned business strategist famous for books such as “Crossing the Chasm” and consultant with leading enterprises such as Salesforce, Intel, and Microsoft. Geoff introduces “The Infinite Staircase,” his proposal for a metaphysics that provides a secular framework for ethics. He and these Fools explore the human experience and how we develop in our s...

These Fools explore the archetypal meaning of history’s most famous dictator, whose name is synonymous with humanity’s darkest potential. In a competitive field, why do we uniquely associate Hitler with evil? A phenomenological review touches on rhetoric, black magic, the meaning of moral courage and individual responsibility, and ultimately, meaning itself. Have yourself a good listen. foolsandsa...

These Fools welcome guest Allison Gerard, Managing Director of Moral Courage, to the podcast. Moral Courage, founded by Irshad Manji, teaches people of all ages “to turn heated issues into healthy conversations and sustained teamwork.” Allison shares her definition of moral courage and the factors in our societal discourse that make it imperative today. The discussion turns to politics, psychology...

These Fools start out talking about the transient quality of work, family, community, and life in general, in the West and especially in the US, and muse about the role of “Place” in antidoting it. Aristotle, Hegel, Wendell Berry, Hopi prophecy, Freud, and other sources come up as the Fools consider how Place shapes identity, the nature of Nature, and the individual/collective, internal/external j...